What Will Dylan Harper’s Role be for Spurs?

The San Antonio Spurs were big winners on draft night, cashing in on their No. 2 pick by taking Rutgers guard Dylan Harper.

Harper was one of the top prizes in the entire draft, trailing only now-Maverick Cooper Flagg in terms of stock. He came into the year as one of the top prospects, and his year of 19.4 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game at Rutgers only reinforced that.

In the long-term, Harper could very well be San Antonio’s second-best prospect — only behind 7-foot-4 phenom Victor Wembanyama. But that doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll be treated as such as a frosh. While he certainly projects to be a lead guard in the future, it seems unlikely he’ll offer more primary reps as a rookie.

Harper enters a loaded backcourt rotation led by former All-Star De’Aaron Fox, who’s yet to spend a full season with the Spurs, as well as reigning Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle. Devin Vassell won’t necessarily be playing his position, but will eat up guard minutes all the same.

Fox will undoubtedly earn the bulk of the point guard minutes this season. The Spurs gave up a bounty of picks and players to nab his talents before last year’s trade deadline, and the fit with Wembanyama will need to be monitored ahead of further guard pairings. While San Antonio is still taking a youth-first approach, having a soon-to-be superstar center and a win-now point guard could be enough to propel them to wins in the West.

Castle, too, is still worth a look as a primary play-maker. As a rookie himself he went for 14.7 points, 4.1 assists and 3.7 rebounds per game, shooting 43% overall and 29% from three. The former UConn champion was drafted as a malleable wing, but offered lead guard reps for a then Harper-less San Antonio.

So where does that leave Harper?

For now, he'll likely be relegated to a role he could thrive in: play-making wing. At 6-foot-6, Harper's already wing-sized, and could very well thrive off-ball due to his high IQ play — slashing, getting out in transition and potentially shooting. At his best he'll command the rock, but there's no reason Harper won't be able to thrive in a lesser on-ball role early in his career, be it from the starting lineup or bench.

Harper could transpose roles with Castle sooner rather than later due to his affinity for downhill creation and play-making. But his lack of NBA experience likely leaves him third among the guard trio for next season at least.